Inflammatory diseases of the cornea comprise the largest single cause of blindness in the world. The subset of peripheral ulcerative keratitis is an enormous problem. Adequate study of patients with peripheral ulcers (as seen, for example, in Mooren's ulcer, Wegener's granulomatosis, and rheumatoid arthritis or other collagen-vascular diseases) is hampered from logistical and ethical considerations. Our lack of understanding of basic mechanisms, our inability to stop the ulcerative process, and our inability to extensively study substantial numbers of patients with peripheral corneal ulcers point to the necessity for an animal model. We have developed, in rabbits and in guinea pigs, an immunologically-produced model of peripheral ulcerative keratitis. The goal of the research described in this proposal is to characterize the histopathology and the immunology of this model in inbred guinea pigs, and to evaluate the ability of certain pharmacologic and immunologic interventions to prevent the development and/or progression of the lesion in our model. Immunological characterization includes serial profiles of immunoglobulins, complement, antiocular antibody, immune complexes, T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes and in vitro lymphocyte response to sensitizing antigen and to ocular antigens. Selective cell line depletion and reconstitution studies and adoptive transfer studies will be monitored for effect on the disease model by clinical, histological, and immunological parameters. The effect of antiinflammatory agents of immunosuppressive agents, of anti-idiotypic cells, and of anti-idiotypic antibody will likewise be studied. We believe the information derived from these studies will allow the findings to be correlated with human clinical data and will suggest appropriate clinical investigations for patients with peripheral ulcerative keratitis.